Occurrence
Languages may have clear apical or laminal alveolars (such as Bulgarian, which has both), laminal denti-alveolars (such as French), or true dentals, which are uncommon. However, a true dental generally occurs allophonically before /θ/ in languages which have it, as in English health.
- Alveolar
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abkhaz | мгьал | 'bread' | See Abkhaz phonology | ||
| Adyghe | кӀалэ | 'boy' | |||
| Albanian | lis | 'tree' | |||
| Arabic | Standard | لا | 'no' | See Arabic phonology | |
| Armenian | Eastern | լուսին | 'moon' | ||
| Basque | lan | 'work' | |||
| Bulgarian | лук | 'onion' | |||
| Catalan | tela | 'fabric' | Front alveolar. May also be velarized. See Catalan phonology | ||
| Chinese | Mandarin | 老 lǎo | 'old' | See Mandarin phonology | |
| Czech | lis | 'press' | See Czech phonology | ||
| Dutch | leven | 'to live' | See Dutch phonology | ||
| English | let | 'let' | See English phonology | ||
| Finnish | illalla | 'at evening' | See Finnish phonology | ||
| German | Liebe | 'love' | See German phonology | ||
| Greek | άλμα álma | 'jump' | See Modern Greek phonology | ||
| Hebrew | לא | 'no' | See Modern Hebrew phonology | ||
| Hungarian | elem | 'battery' | See Hungarian phonology | ||
| Italian | letto | 'bed' | See Italian phonology | ||
| Kabardian | щIалэ | 'boy' | |||
| Malay | lagi | 'again' | |||
| Marathi | लग्न | 'wedding' | See Marathi phonology | ||
| Norwegian | liv | 'life' | See Norwegian phonology | ||
| Russian | ключ | 'key' | Contrasts palatalized and velarized variants. See Russian phonology | ||
| Slovak | mĺkvy | 'silent' | Syllabic form can be long or short | ||
| Spanish | hablar | 'to speak' | See Spanish phonology | ||
| Swedish | allt | 'everything' | See Swedish phonology | ||
| Tibetan | ལྷ་ས་ | 'Lhasa' | Contrasts voiced and voiceless lateral approximants | ||
- Dental or denti-alveolar
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dutch | Belgian | lucht | 'air' | ||
| French | il | 'he' | See French phonology | ||
| Mapudungun | 'sea, lake' | Interdental | |||
| Pashto | لس | 'ten' | |||
| Portuguese | clique | 'click' | Generally replaced by allophones when in coda among native speakers, and as single onset it velarizes before /i/ in most dialects. Primarily velarized in Portugal. All dialects have semivowel, velarized, alveolo-palatal and/or rhotic allophones in Brazil, depending on the phonotactics of each one. See Portuguese phonology | ||
| Romanian | alună | 'hazelnut' | See Romanian phonology | ||
| Russian | Contrasts palatalized and velarized variants. See Russian phonology | ||||
| Tamil | புலி | 'tiger' | See Tamil phonology | ||
| Vietnamese | lửa | 'fire' | See Vietnamese phonology | ||
- Variable
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese | Cantonese | 老 lou5 | 'old' | Alveolar to sometimes dental. See Cantonese phonology | |
| Korean | 물집 muljip | 'blister' | Alveolar to post-alveolar. See Korean phonology | ||
| Ukrainian | обличчя | 'face' | Passively dental to alveolar. See Ukrainian phonology | ||
Read more about this topic: Alveolar Lateral Approximant
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